What are some good inexpensive CD players

I've owned both the Sigma and Alpha DACs, in the past.
Kinda wish I still had the Alpha! Have you considered
rolling the tubes in the Alpha? If yours is a 24/96
model; you shouldn't need more resolution. Personally; if I
still owned the Alpha, I would be hunting a pair of ECC803S
of E803CC Siemens for it. Of course, if you're set on using
the Sigma with your CD; You'd only need one of those. Hard
to find and salty, but worth it. Guess I should have
prefaced all that by asking if you've tried outputting the
S-
100's digital to you CALs, as yet. Of course; then a high
quality digital cable would be very critical too. This tube
wouldn't be a slouch either, in the Sigma:
(http://tctubes.com/Siemens-12AX7-E83CC-dual-post-
getter.aspx) IT SUCKS that a complete url/link can't be
correctly entered in a post. Search for the Siemens 1963,
dual post halo gettered tube, for $74.00, on the TC site(if
interested).

It can greatly depend on your tastes, the Oppo is a very respected player for its price. I have also heard some of the less expensive Marantz models, bought one for my daughter years back and the build quality is very high for a player of its price range, some very good used prices here on A'gon on Marantz's slightly higher grade models, and a very smooth and dynamic sounding player. My personal preferences lean toward the Sony XA5400ES, a very high quality player for its $1500 price tag, and while I have heard other players that have smoother top ends, they tend to sound too polite, and laid back for my tastes. The Sony has a much more dynamic presentation, highs are bright and clear while bass is tight and punchy. After hearing this unit, I felt like the rest were too polite and unexciting, bland even. And this is not the kind of bright and loud that gets old very quickly, as in some budget players, I can listen to the Sony all day!

But this is one of the problems when shopping on A'gon, when buying used you do not get to audition the gear most of the time. So we depend on our fellow 'goners to lend us an ear. Many years ago, almost 28 years now, I was shopping for a better CD player, and after hearing the Denon and Marantz and other models at the one thousand dollar point, ( a lot back in 1986), and I settled on the Sony CDP608ES, for the very same reasons I still love the Sony ES decks, better dynamics, not so laid back. Instruments are better delineated, sharper lines between them, easier to pick them apart, more three dimensional soundstage. I observe much of these same qualities in the new Sony XA5400ES. So when you say your inexpensive juke box Sony has qualities you admire, i am thinking their more expensive offerings might really wow you. Something to think on.

There's a super nice Arcam FMJ 23T cd/HDCD player that has detail in spades for sale on Audiogon. Hint, hint, hint!!!

Sphinx is very nice - I had one in for review for TNT Audio and was very impressed.

For under $500 go for the Oppo 103. Use it as a stand alone cd player in "pure audio" or universal - its very nice.